Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by rkn463

They axed Olds in 2004, it broke my heart.

Heh, goes to show how much I pay attention I guess.....

[Jeff La]

Originally Posted by rkn463

They axed Olds in 2004, it broke my heart.

Yea I loved the Olds, that's all we drove coming up.Dad's best friend was the head of the Olds dealership here in town and he would get a new one every two years and sell Dad his old one. All I can say is them Rockets sure did rock in my younger years

[chad64chevy]

where's the WOW factor update???? i'm waiting, lol!!!! just messing with ya

[Alan's Classic]

Very nice before and after pics and great job on the sway bar!!

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Jeff La

Yea I loved the Olds, that's all we drove coming up.Dad's best friend was the head of the Olds dealership here in town and he would get a new one every two years and sell Dad his old one. All I can say is them Rockets sure did rock in my younger years

Funny thing, there is a Rocket 350 with 70k on it for sale up here on CL right now....
IIRC those were pretty beefy engines !?!

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

where's the WOW factor update???? i'm waiting, lol!!!! just messing with ya

Sorry not enough progress on that project yet to post on.
I did get my buddy over to help me fine tune the engine, and we discussed some custom emblems for my truck. So it wasn't a total wash.

Maybe by the end of next weekend....

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Very nice before and after pics and great job on the sway bar!!

Thanks Alan, those yearly before and after updates help me stay motivated and focused. It also helps me keep my perspective on the build, as in reminding me just how much I have done already, and how close to finshing I am at this point.
About the rear sway; Modges had to call me and explain to me in itty bitty words (because you know I am not too bright some times) what the function of that bar is, and how it is supposed to function, and why the way I set it up will not work. So as soon as I am done with this current project, that is on the high list for a re-do.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

About the rear sway; Modges had to call me and explain to me in itty bitty words (because you know I am not too bright some times) what the function of that bar is, and how it is supposed to function, and why the way I set it up will not work. So as soon as I am done with this current project, that is on the high list for a re-do.

Awe, c'mon Murph, don't be like that! LOL!
You are a real talented guy!
You know that I let you down easy!... and we had an excellent chat!!!!
We will have to do that again real soon!
It's all good!

[piratexpress1369a]

i think you are just being tight lip and building a super surpise lol

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Awe, c'mon Murph, don't be like that! LOL!
You are a real talented guy!
You know that I let you down easy!... and we had an excellent chat!!!!
We will have to do that again real soon!
It's all good!

Oh Modges...
Dont let the tone fool you man, I think you are one of the most stellar guys around and I really did appreciate our chat. If I cannot accept when I am wrong, then I will never be right.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

i think you are just being tight lip and building a super surpise lol

Yeah, you got me Piratexpress !!

So it has been too long since I updated this build.
I have been hard at it though, I assure you.

Here are a couple of clue shots as to what I have been up to. I am about 2/3 done, and since I am on a roll and have a working idea of how this is coming together, I predict the last third to smooth along a lot quicker!







I am sure a few of you have already guessed what is coming next ..... LoL

This stuff is wicked fun !!

[Ta2Don]

Man O Man...

[piratexpress1369a]

way cool ..just remember do not get caught driving on the road with them on in that colour ..amber and white only on the front

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Man O Man...

Heheh I knew you would be looking !!

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

way cool ..just remember do not get caught driving on the road with them on in that colour ..amber and white only on the front

Yeah, my neighbor down stairs is Military Police, and last night when I showed him my progress, he mentioned the forward facing blue as well. He also said it varies from state to state on limitations and various effects ect.
Since I am from Washington state, I will gear it all towards that state and our laws.
Right now the Washington State Patrol site only mentions neon lights, and the limitations.
I will check the DoT and City regs as well.
At the least I will just wire them into a toggle switch and limit the useage to the showing and "wow factor". Good thing I pre-drilled my center console for 4 toggles !!

[pdxhall]

You've got my curiosity going. looking forward to seeing the finished result.

[clemdaddy]

once again your brain kicks out a totally unique idea.
as your list of mods grow so does our anticipation of the next one... and you don't disappoint.

push-on murph...

[piratexpress1369a]

hey here is a thought do both blue and amber ...amber for driving and blue for show

[flips72]

what are you using for the blue lights? led?

[Bomp]

Dude

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

You've got my curiosity going. looking forward to seeing the finished result.

The center section of the grill is 99% done. All it needs now is some massaging at the headlight ends, and paint. All cosmetics. Tomorrow I will launch into a phot journal of what I have done, and how I did it.

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

once again your brain kicks out a totally unique idea.
as your list of mods grow so does our anticipation of the next one... and you don't disappoint.
push-on murph...

Thanks for the kind words Clem, at the end of it all, I hope to have a very unique rig that is not all bolt on stuff.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

hey here is a thought do both blue and amber ...amber for driving and blue for show

There is a thought....
So far the Washington State laws seem to be pretty liberal on the issue of additional lighting for passenger vehicles.

Originally Posted by flips72

what are you using for the blue lights? led?

They are 10" Led Strips off the shelf from O'Reileys. My choices were white and blue. I opted for the blue to match the interior lighting I did.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Dude

Yeah ?
Well strap in buddy, because you aint seen nuthin yet !!

[McMurphy]

Ok guys this entire update is going to be long winded, so bear with me.
2-sum years ago when I started thinking of getting into a truck build I was looking at builds in various stages of progress, when one caught my eye and sparked my imagination. It was a light colored truck with the head light grill out, and that space behind where the grill would go was painted flat black. From that I sparked the idea of doing hideaway headlights on one of these in a way that I have not seen done yet.

I will be showing you guys my progress in chronological order, instead of any logical sense of how this should have, or could have gone together. The reason being is that I am no engineer by any sense of the word.

I was lucky enough to score a spare grill from my local bone yard that was in awesome condition, to augment my original which had survived very well also.

This first photo is the spare grill laying in place as I started the measurements for a close to original positioning look for the end result.

Then it was removal of the headlight support:

And the sectioning of the old headlight bezel frame:

Then it was a matter of bending and massaging the ends to get the look I was after. I also wanted to keep as much indigenous metal as possible to the items I was working with.

Here is initial concept in the first stage. The center section was saved and the ends which were no longer useful were used as a test subject. Here you see the folded end piece I cut off laying on top of the 1996 Cougar head light assembly door. I went with these Cougar set ups as they seemed to be pretty simple in construction, plentiful, and not as expensive on E-bay as others I looked at.


More tomorrow, if I get out of the garage early enough... right now dinner is getting cold, and wife is getting cranky about it !!!

LOL

[C@rnut001]

What a cool idea! Good luck with it, you are great with your ideas on your truck. Keep it up and keep the updates coming our way.

[markeb01]

I'm in the crowd that is enthusiastically waiting to see how this turns out. Your out of the ordinary ideas are always dazzling!

[Ta2Don]

I'm #4 Watching and Anticipating…

Evaluation at this point... Very nice way of Raising that bar...

[Grizz1963]

Great thinking Michael.

You know I love the "make it up as you go along" design ethos once you have a vision of where you are headed.

Now here's a bit of sideways thinking from your original design.
Would the mechanism from a Mazda Miata MX5 pop up headlight unit with some slight mods also be able to give you the same effect if you shortened the actuating lever to double or increase the radius of travel?

Thanks for the process tutorial.

[Low Elco]

Ok, I gots ta know!

[jlsanborn]

More more more!

[piratexpress1369a]

oh hell watch you go again blowing our minds wide open